Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Monday next week, 21 August, it will be eight years since the Montara oil spill disaster off the coast of Western Australia. Thousands of barrels—in fact, we don't know the final amount—of oil began leaking from the Montara wellhead platform drill rig into the Timor Sea. It continued to leak for more than 10 weeks, before finally being stopped on 3 November 2009.

Three weeks after the spill—remember, oil was coming out of that wellhead for another seven weeks after this—the size of the spill was reported by the government as being 25 nautical miles by 70 nautical miles. The oil spill entered into Indonesian waters. On top of this, thousands of litres of different types of dispersants were also spread on the oil spill. The area is bigger than the size of the City of Perth, and the Montara oil spill is now considered as Australia's worst ever offshore drilling accident.

PTTEP Australasia was the company that owned the drill rig. They did finally admit that the oil did go into Indonesian waters, as well as Australian waters, and acknowledged that mistakes had been made. In fact, there was a commission of inquiry into the disaster that clearly pointed out where the problems lay. There were some changes made to legislation as a result of the oil spill; however, what has never been fully addressed is the fact that there was oil leaked into Indonesian waters, and it actually reached East Nusa Tenggara and the islands of Nusa Tenggara Timur and Rote Island. The issues around the impact on the fishers, the seaweed farmers and the families around the area of East Nusa Tenggara and the coastline have never been properly dealt with.

We know that the Montara oil did leak into Indonesian waters, because the fishers had video of it and they collected the oil at that time. In fact, I tried to get it tested in Perth and then I handed it over to the commission of inquiry, and they established beyond all doubt that that oil was actually from the Montara oil spill. What we'll never know is the true extent of the damage to the environment, as there was no baseline study conducted in the area before the oil spill. Nevertheless, although at the moment we don't know the impact on the marine environment, there is still a chance we can find out the extent of the spread of the oil spill.

The reason this is important is that once-thriving communities on Nusa Tenggara Timur and Rote believe they have had significant impact from the oil spill. I have been to Kupang and to the villages of Nusa Tenggara Timur and have met with villagers. I have met with fishers and seaweed farmers and been in the villages. You could tell that villages that were once prosperous are no longer prosperous. When I was there, fish markets that were once thriving were extremely quiet. The fishers report that the number of fish caught has reduced. Seaweed farmers went from three tonnes of seaweed per farmer to half a tonne of seaweed. They have diminished livelihoods and they also have health effects. Families report they have had to pull children out of school because they can no longer afford to access basic education. They have also had to try to find other livelihoods—some more successful than others. They have deep concerns that their incomes and lives have been deeply affected by the oil spill.

Unfortunately, this has been never been properly studied. On top of the oil itself, we also need to consider the fact that the chemical dispersants were sprayed onto the ocean to disperse the oil into the seabed of the Timor Sea. We know that there were a number of chemicals used—in fact, some were used during the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, which actually started not long after the Montara oil spill started. Some of those chemicals and dispersants have since ceased their use and have been banned. The seaweed farmers and fishers display skin diseases which they also think were caused by the oil.

The true extent of the contamination of the waters surrounding East Nusa Tenggara has never been studied. Innocent people, their families, fishers, seaweed farmers and children continue to address the difficulties they think were caused by the effects of this oil spill. Successive governments have done little to address the issues that the seaweed farmers and the fishers continue to raise. Yes, PTTEP Australasia was fined $510,000, which is a good deal less than the estimated economic loss due to the pollution of the sea. The provincial government of East Nusa Tenggara has estimated it at many hundreds of millions of dollars. There has been no move to compensate the victims of the Montara oil spill or even to discuss with them the issues around the oil spill. There is a class action now underway by seaweed farmers and fishers; however, we know how long class actions take, and I don't want to comment on that any further.

Since 2014, the Indonesian government has been looking at this issue and has asked for further assistance. I will acknowledge that the current foreign minister, as I understand it, has actually raised this issue with the Indonesian government. The asks of the community at the moment are not extensive asks. What they're asking for is a study of where the oil might have been.

My first reaction to that, was, 'Well, the spill's happened.' But what I understand from the scientific experts on this issue is that you can still find traces of oil. Because each different oil type has its different fingerprint, they can still find traces of the oil in the sediment and around the coastline. If they can look, they feel that they would be able to establish the extent of the spill. At this stage, people aren't saying it is definitely the Montara oil spill; they're saying that the diseases of the seaweed farm and the drop in production—again, I have seen that with my own eyes—started occurring around those dates. I have seen the impacts of the skin diseases and spoken to fishers about the impacts.

What they're saying is, 'Please fund a study for us to look at whether in fact there was an impact of this oil from the spill on the coastlines and on the seaweed farms.' What they're saying in order to facilitate that is: 'Please, could the Australian government and the Indonesian government set up a task force to work together to drive the study to make sure it occurs and to make sure we start getting some action here?'

And then, of course, if the study does show that there are impacts on the marine environment around east Nusantara, Timor and Roti, it is expected that there should be compensation for those people who are affected. It seems very unfair and it doesn't seem too hard for the company that was involved to actually make sure that there was no impact. To me, it doesn't seem too hard for the Australian government to take leadership on this matter, given that this spill happened in our waters and on our watch, and that, along with the company, it was our regulatory system that failed. The regulatory system in place at the time did not do its job properly and, of course, there were mistakes made by the company.

The eighth anniversary should be a time for the Australian government to show leadership: to say, 'Yes, we will help form this task force, and we will make sure that the study gets funded.' To my mind, the company should be funding the study. I will keep pursuing this; it's eight years down the track and we need to keep pursuing it. I will show a movie on Thursday in Parliament House—a documentary made by Jane Hammond, a local WA film maker. It's called A Crude Injustice and it is about this and the impacts that it had on the local community in West Timor and Roti. I urge people in Parliament House to come to see it.